Aldi recalls thousands of packs of frozen veg after woman finds half a rat inside one

File photo of an Aldi store sign, as the retailer has voluntarily recalled 38,000 packs of its frozen mixed vegetables after a grandmother said she found half a rat inside one. Picture Anthony Devlin/PA Wire.

Aldi has voluntarily recalled 38,000 packs of its frozen mixed vegetables after a grandmother said she found half a rat inside one.

Pat Bateman, 60, had just fed her two-year-old granddaughter lunch and was putting the bag back in the freezer when she noticed something “out of place” in the pack.

The retired florist told The Sun: “It was nearly empty so that’s why I spotted something that looked out of place in the bottom of the bag.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I pulled it out. It just looked like half a rat. It had fur on it. I showed my husband and because it was frozen we left it to defrost before taking another look at it.”

She added: “We had eaten almost all of the bag before we saw it - and what’s even worse - I fed it to my youngest granddaughter.”

Mrs Bateman, from Liskeard in Cornwall, returned to her local branch and was given £30 off her food shop, but felt the store was not taking her complaint seriously so she sent pictures to the German retailer’s head office.

Aldi offered her £500 compensation and reassured her that there was no rat infestation where the vegetables were produced.

But the grandmother, who felt “physically sick” at the discovery, said it was not enough.

A report from Aldi revealed there had been three complaints of “pieces of small rodent being found in one batch of mixed vegetables”, including one last February, The Sun said.

The packs are supplied by Agrifreeze, a fruit a vegetable wholesaler based in Belgium, and were removed from sale in January.

Aldi said in a statement: “Following Mrs Bateman’s complaint, we removed this product from sale to prevent any further issues.

“We have suspended all orders from this production site whilst we investigate this matter.”

The complaint follows a similar discovery in 2016, when mum-of-three Justyna Leavy claimed she found rat droppings in a plain yoghurt she purchased from Aldi. And last year a Leicester man holidaying in Norfolk claimed he has found ‘worms’ in the sausages he purchased from the discount retailer.